Local automatic fire extinguishing system



Feb- 12, 1952 G. F. RooKE LOCAL AUTOMATIC FIRE EXTINGUISHING SYSTEMFiled Feb. ll, 1949 Patented Feb. 12, 1952 DOUAI. AUTOMATIC FIREEXTINGUISHING SYSTEM? George.J Rooke, Brovidence, R. I., assigner to.George G; Evans, DeKalb; Ill;

Application February 11, 1949Serial;No;75,867

6 Claims. (Cl: 169-43.)

The purpose. of the present inventionv is. tov pro- Vide: aimeansfeffective :toi extinguish-.interior fires before. theyA havey gained:any substantial headway,.and ofzsuch a characterthatit canLbe producedat 10W oost andvv installedreadily in any location withina buildingwhere protection against damagezby reiisedesired; Oneparticular phaseiof? this general; object which. I have had inxmind is'ttoaiordtreprotectioniinrooms; hallways; closets', etc. of dwelling. housesand apartments'. There is a'wide field of needzand utility for the.protection; of living quarters; such as those. above mentioned'.WhileLnumerous'proposals have been offered'ff'or means. toi makeavisibl'e or. audible signal` att-somev central: station; when a reoccurs in livingqnartersand many. types of extinguishers have been madeforfmanual. use by one who is awarethata fireflia'sfstarted,y yetnoprovisionhas been'. made, so' far'as- I'amaware, for actuallyextinguishing ar refin localities of that' nature, automatically, when'noone is 4'averare that a re-V has started: The sprinklerrsystemsdevised for factories are not'suit'ablev for installation 'in dwellings;

Hence'lhave sought to provide anapparatus or system which canbelinstalled; easily andratmoderate expense in one' or anynumberof theyenclosed-spaces offdwelliirgs; WhichWill convey extinguishing liquididirectly to any part of" the room where a fire yhas started: as soon asthe re has generated enough heat to melt or soften a small' quantity ofreadilyy fusible' or combustible material and beforethei're hasgaineddangerousr headway, and which is inconspicuousjwhen installed'.

The gistof thefinvention resides in a combination-of a container for reextinguishing fluid, a tube connected and communicating With suchcontainer adapted to bef attached to` the walls of a room at anyheightabove tiieo'or; being of' anylength'v sui'cient to extend aroundthe entire-circuit of 'the room orany desiredpart'thereof, normallyhaving no outletand being. of' a character such' that" it maybemeltedfor burned through-v. by impact` ot'hcat ofE 'moderateintensity,I and'v electrical controlmea-ns adapted to` be put in*vaction bytheh'eattof' aiflre'ior` openinga How connectiony between: thecontainer of fluid. andA the: tube; One illustrative' embodiment: of;this combinationis `describediin the following specification andillustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which,

Fig. 1 isadiagrammatic viewn ot thecombined system;

lig.v 2. is. a sectional. view: of` a. portionof the tube. element. of,thecombination With a part. of the electricakequipment,of thecombination inside thetube;

Fig. 3. is a partially dismembered. View ofv a fragment of theelectrical element. shown in Fig. 2;

Fig 4is a` partial diagramshowing amodiication.

Like reference characters designate the same partswherever they occurYinall, the guresf.

In this-illustration. alrepr-.esents a tankcontaining: a reextinguishingliquid, which may be plain Water, a foam solution, or somenoninflammable=liquidother-than water, such as carbontetrachloriderorthe like. Urepresents an elongatedgtubefwhichis coupledw-ith the outlet passage c-oi the tank c` and isclosed at its` outerend, Such tube is of a material which can-be quickly-disintegrated byheat; suchv as antimony; an-alloyfof antimony, orother metalalloy havingalow melting-point, andsmade with thin walls sothat itvvill be 'quicklymelted at any pointrexposed-to the heatfof an incipient re; the tube maybe of any length sutedto the `condition of its f installationv and.. ofa: diameter generally proportional-to its length. That is, tubes forinstallationiwhere I a' relatively great continuous length`offtubingfis-required may bev-of larger diameter thansubstantially'shorterf tubes. However, any tube` applied to' the purposeof this invention shouldhavea large-enough bore to conduct theextinguishing fluid'quickly after communication hasbeenpopened withtheinterior of thetank to anypointwhere ahole has-been opened throughtheside of thetube:

When installed,v and as long'as no lire has occurred in thev roomlWhere' it is installed, the tube contains nov liquid and has' no.discharge opening.` Itis-.shutoi-from communication with the-t bodyofextinguishing liquid in the tankfa'. AnyoneI off-many'means inthenatureof a valve capableaof being. opened to' admit liquidto the tube whenneed arises to use the liquid-may be. provided. In this illustration Ihave shown a typeY of tank which iswin production and isavailable ontheimarket;v inn which a hermetically sealed glass bottle or ampule d iscontanediy/ith-` inI theshell'of the' tank andl is supportedl above the.bottoni of th'eg shellv byv a vertical' tubular adapter e. Thisadapterand-an'extension tube-f containftwogsealed capsulesorcartridges g ando"vcolitaning'carbcnv dioxide vunder heavy,` pressure. lccateds sothattheirnecksproject: toward one another. A- double pointed piercing pin; h. isIl'lounted` between, the necks' ci? these; cartridges.

3 in a tubular slide j fitted within the tube j. A plunger lc is movableendwise in a guide extension of the sleeve f beneath the bottom of thecartridge g'.

These parts are so arranged that when the plunger 1c is moved upward, itlifts cartridge g', causes the double pointed pin to puncture the endseal of this cartridge, raises the pin so as to puncture the end seal ofcartridge g, and raises cartridge g so as to break the bottle d andallow the liquid to flow to the outlet port c and tube b. The carbondioxide released from the cartridges flows through the adapter e to thetop of thev tank and applies pressure to the released liquid.

For releasing the liquid and pressure gas, I have provided here anelectrically controlled device, the action of which is initiated byheat. A weight Z is suspended by a trip m at the upper end of a guide n,and a lever o is pivoted at p to the wall bracket, pedestal or otherdevice which supports the tank a. One arm f the lever extends under thelower end of guide n and the other arm extends under the plunger k. Bythis arrangement, the weight l, when allowed to fall strikes lever osuddenly and with great force, causing plunger 7c to be raised with theeiect of piercing the gas cartridges and breaking the bottle ofextinguisher fluid as above described.

For releasing the trip m I have provided a solenoid q, the core of whichis coupled with the trip m in a manner such as to disengage the tripfrom the weight when the solenoid is energized.

The solenoid winding is in open circuit connection with a source ofelectric current 1- and two conductors s and t which enter the tube bthrough an opening, which is sealed liquid tight around the conductors,and extend within the bore of the tube to its outer end. The conductorsare insulated from each other in such a manner, and are otherwise sorelated that the application of heat causes the insulation between themto be destroyed so that they come together in electrical contact.

I have found it satisfactory to use as such conductors a two wire cableput out by The Protecto Wire Co. of Hanover, Massachusetts, under thetrade name of Protectowire This cable consists of two steel wires coatedwith thermoplastic insulating material, twisted around one another andcovered with a light braid. The thermoplastic insulation is softened byheat and, where this occurs, the spring pressure under which the steelconductors are conned, causes the conductors to force the insulationaside and to come into contact, thus completing the circuit between thecurrent source r and the solenoid q. Any suitable material such as a waxcan be used as the thermoplastic material, carnauba Wax, montan wax, andbeeswax being examples. The choice of material will depend upon thetemperature at which it is desired that the material melt.

The cable as a whole with its braided covering is designated u in Figs.2 and 3, and is Shown in Fig. 2 as contained within a fragment of thetube b.

When installed, the tube b with the contained electrical conductors, isattached to the wall or walls of a room in any convenient and desirablyinconspicuous location, as along a baseboard, beside a molding orcornice, or elsewhere. The tank may be installed in an inconspicuouscorner of the same room, or in a different room or closet and the tuberun through the intermediate 4 partition or iloor. Any room, or everyroom of a house may be thus provided with its own unit system, or onesuch system may serve for two or more adjoining rooms. Necessarily thetube is exposed in a manner such that it will be quickly affected by theheat of any re which may develop in the room where installed.

In case of fire, the point in the side of the tube which is most quicklyand highly heated is fused or softened and the insulation of thecontained conductors is softened at the same time so that contact ismade between the conductors. Thereupon the electric actuator (solenoidq) is energized to cause now of the extinguishing fluid into the tube bin the manner precedently described. The fluid is then discharged on thefire from the opening in the side of the tube caused by the re.

A Signal device is associated with this apparatus to give notice at anysuitable or desirable location whenever a fire has occurred. In thepresent illustrative diagram such signal device v, which may be anelectric light, a bell, a buzzer or any other suitable device isconnected in circuit with the current source 1 and with a normally opencircuit closer w. The latter is suitably arranged to be closed by theweight l when the latter is released in the manner described. Onesuitable arrangement is that here shown, where the circuit closer is apivoted lever and is connected by a link m with the lever o; thearrangement being such that when the right hand arm of lever o isdepressed by the weight, the circuit closing arm of switch w is raisedto engage a contact y connected to one of the conductors of the signalcircuit.

Instead of employing electrical means to govern the application of forceto release the extinguishing fluid upon occurrence of a fire, the sameresult may be obtained by mechanical means. One form of such mechanicalmeans is illustrated in Fig. 4, where the latch m which normallysupports the weight Z is connected With a spring l0 so arranged as totend constantly t0 release the latch. This tendency is resisted andovercome by a cord Il which may be made of a thermoplastic,` or otherreadily fusible or combustible material. It is connected with the latchso as to hold it in its supporting engagement with the weight and is ledoverA or around guides, one of which is indicated at l2 so as to extendacross any selected parts of the room or space in which the tank of fireextinguishing liquid is installed. In other respects the apparatus maybe identical with that shown in Fig. 1, the only difference being in thesubstitution of the spring I0 and cord I l for the solenoid q andelectrical circuit.

It will be understood that the principles of the invention are notlimited to the specific details of apparatus here shown illustratively.The tank element of the combination may be of any size and dimensions,for instance a large water tank installed at a great enough height tofurnish a large pressure head. Various alternative forms of occlusionand release means may be provided for normally preventing access ofextinguishing fluid to the tube and permitting such access at need, andvarious actuating contrivances may be applied for controlling suchocclusion and release means, all within the scope of the presentinvention.

What I claim is:

l. A re extinguishing apparatus comprising a tank, a thin walled tubemade of material having a low melting point in flow-receiving connectionat one end with said tube and being closed against discharge at allother points, means in the tank normally preventing ow of fluidcontained therein to said tube, means for opening the flow-preventingclosure of said tank, and means extending along the said tube andresponsive to a predetermined temperature at any point thereof to causesaid opening means to operate.

2. A iire extinguishing system comprising a tank, a thin wailed tubemade of material having a low melting point in now-receiving connectionat one end with said tank and being closed against discharge at allother points, means in the tank normally preventing now of fluidcontained therein to said tube, a suspended weight, a lever pivoted asubstantial distance below the level at which said weight is suspended,having an arm extending across the path in which the weight is adaptedto travel when permitted to fall, force-transmitting means between thelever and container operable when the lever is displaced by impact ofsaid weight to open a passage for fluid from the tank to the tube andheat controlled means for releasing the weight from its suspendedcondition.

3. A re extinguishing system comprising a tank, a thin walled tube madeof material having a low melting point in flow-receiving connection atone end with said tank and being closed against discharge at all otherpoints, means in J the tank' normally preventing :dow of uid containedtherein to said tube, a normally inactive electrical device disposed inrelation to said flowpreventing means such as to disable saidflowpreventing means when energized, and electrical conductors in opencircuit connection with said electrical device and a source of current,extending in parallel throughout the length of said tube, beingelectrically insulated from each other and arranged to come into mutualcontact when affected by heat suicient to soften the wall of the tube.

4. A nre extinguishing apparatus comprising a tank, a tube connected atone end with an outlet port in the tank and being otherwise closedagainst outflow at all points, said tube having thin walls and beingmade of readily fusible metal, a closed container of fire extinguishingliquid in the tank, means for Opening said container so as to releasethe liquid comprising a suspended weight, a lever pivoted a substantialdistance below the level at which said weight is suspended, having anarm extending across the path in which the weight is adapted to travelwhen permitted to fall, force-transmitting means between the lever andcontainer operable when the lever is displaced by impact of said Weightto open a passage for fluid from the tank to the tube, and a normallyinactive electromagnetic device connected to release the weight whenenergized, and two electrical conductors in open circuit connection withsaid electro-magnetic device and a source of current extendingthroughout the length of the tube with thermoplastic insulation which isadapted to be softened by heat, said conductors being under springpressure tending to bring them into physical contact.

5. A nre extinguishing apparatus as set forth in claim 2, in which alatch is provided to support the weight in suspended position and theheat controlled means are organized to release .i said latch whenaffected by sufficiently high temperature.

6. A re extinguishing apparatus according to claim 2, in which a latchis provided to hold the weight in suspended position, a spring isconnected with the latch under tension tending to disengage it from theWeight, and the heat controlled means is a cord so connected to thelatch as to prevent displacement thereof by said spring and being sopositioned, and of such a character, that it is rendered inoperative forthat purpose when subjected to heat of suiicient intensity.

GEORGE F. ROOKE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 157,217 Pennington Nov. 24, 18741,087,989 Simson Feb. 24, 1914 1,345,435 Durkee July 6, 1920

